Two things are essential to get a six pack – diet to reduce total body fat and exercise to strengthen and develop the abdominal muscles. However, losing excess fat and getting a six pack is one of the hardest goals to achieve. We have already talked about how to lose weight, so here we shall mostly focus on the exercises that best develop your abdominal muscles.
Remember that there are no specific exercises to lose fat. Spot reduction, or targeting stomach fat, does not work. You may have been brainwashed by infomercials that abs toning devices will melt away your stomach fat and reveal 6 pack abs, but this is all just a clever bit of marketing. The adverts never show the fitness models drenched in sweat, gasping for breath after an intensive workout. The people that demonstrate ab toning devices do not actually use those devices to get the fit body they have, they really are all just fitness models.
The 10 Most Important Abdominal Exercises
As any bodybuilder knows, building muscle requires lifting increasingly more weight (progressive overload). The abdominals follow the same rules as any other muscle. Generally muscle growth (in terms of size, not functional strength) is most successful when lifting 10-12 rep sets. Therefore, maximum weight is not used, but also the weight should not be so light that you can easily perform more than 12 reps per set.
For this abs training routine you will require some free weights (discs and a dumbbell, plus ankle weights) and a bench that can be set at a slight incline. You can see instructional videos for some of these exercises on Abdominal Exercises to Tone and Strengthen Your Stomach. Here are the most important exercises to do to get six pack abs:
1. Bicycle Crunches
Considered by some trainers to be the most important abdominal exercise. Perform crunches with your hands lightly touching your forehead and as you raise your torso, twist so that your leading elbow meets the opposite knee. Alternate each side.
2. Incline Reverse Crunch
We start on the bench, which is set to its first incline position. Put on your ankle weights, lie back and grab the bench behind your head with both hands. Raise you knees so that they are above your waist, and then lift your hips off the bench, towards your head. Do 3 sets of 10 reps.
3. Weighted Crunch
The crunch is the classic stomach exercise. Simply lie back and hold a weight disc to your chest. With your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, lift your shoulders off, hold, and lower. 3 sets of 10 reps.
4. Weighted Russian Twist
Sit upright on the floor with your legs out in front, but legs slightly bent. Lean back approximately 45 degrees while holding a dumbbell in both hands straight out in front of you. Then twist your torso to the left, keeping your back straight, hold for 2 seconds, then return to face forward. Repeat on the right side. Do 3 sets of 10 reps.
Adding weight should mean that you are working your abs harder, and result in better muscle growth. Do not try building abs with 200 sit-ups every day, do it the proper way with bodybuilders weight training exercises.
5. Hanging Leg Raises
Hanging leg raises target the “lower abs” and are much more effective than laying leg raises, which mostly target the hip flexors. You need good grip strength to perform them as you hang on a high pull up bar and then lift your legs up with knees bent as far as you can.
6. Front Squats
Front squats are performed like a standard back squat, but instead of supporting a barbell across your shoulders you hold a weight tight to your chest. This moves the focus of the squat to the core region, thus creating a good abdominal workout.
7. Kettlebell Swings
Kettlebell swings are a great way to combine muscular endurance exercise with cardio. The dynamic swings increase heart rate while working the glutes, thighs and core. They are useful in developing the core region.
8. Side Bends
The classic dumbbell side bend is often neglected these days. However, it was one of the exercises that Bruce Lee performed to supplement his abs routines. The most important rule in side bends is to ensure that you keep your lower body solid and only move your torso. Also avoid leaning forward or backward. Start in an upright position, inhale as you lower the dumbbell along your thigh, then inhale as you lift.
9. The Plank and 10. Side Plank
The Plank and side plank are static exercises. You support your body on your forearms and toes while keeping your body straight and your abdominals engaged. If you are not feeling a burn in your abs then you are not performing the plank correctly. You can also support your weight on your hands and feet, in a classic press up position. Keep the back straight at all times. If the back starts to sag slightly, this is because you are tiring, so stop. Abdominals must be engaged and if you do not quickly feel your abdominals tiring then you are not doing the plank properly.
The side plank can be performed in either a half or full position. The side plant is performed by supporting the body on just one hand, with the feet close together. The other hand is held up vertically. To perform a half side plank, you support the body on one elbow with the forearm on the ground, with the feet together.
Abdominal Muscles Need Recovery
Remember that like your other muscles, the abdominals require adequate rest to ensure that the muscles recover after the exercise. Do not perform these stomach exercises daily. Arnold Schwarzenegger worked his abs everyday, and Bruce Lee’s abs were also training often. However, we do not all have the same genetic advantages, so do not over train. They also had the advantage of being able to take extra care to optimize their nutrition and rest to prevent overtraining problems.
Fat Reduction Diet
As we have covered diet already in the article “how to start losing weight” we do not need to go into detail here. The number one rule is CUT OUT SUGAR. Sugar is the reason why most people are overweight. Ignore all those people that tell you the problem is too much fat. Saturated fat is unhealthy, it clogs your arteries and leads to coronary heart disease. There is no dispute about that. But did you know that sugar also does this? And excess sugar is converted to fat very quickly.
To make changes as quickly as possible adopt a sugar free diet for 2 weeks. It is extreme, but essential. Sugar is everywhere, especially in “healthy” breakfast cereals, white bread and junk food. Are you planning to eat low fat yogurt? Don’t! Low fat yogurt contains additional sugar to make it taste nice.
The second rule is to eat more protein and more healthy fat. These food groups help build muscle and boost your metabolism. Just make sure you are eating healthy forms in all cases. No processed meats, limit red meat and other forms of saturated fat. It is also important to remember that you need to reduce your total calories as well to help weight loss.
Ultimately to lose fat requires a daily calorie deficit by combining a healthy and balanced diet with regular exercise.
Increase Your Metabolism
There are two ways to increase your metabolism: diet and exercise. The longer you go without eating, the more your metabolism slows down. So to counter this effect, eat more often, but obviously eat less. Many professional athletes eat 6 to 8 times a day, with each meal being a small portion of protein, fat and carbohydrate (low GI diet) in a perfect balance to keep fat content minimal while building muscle tissue.
The other way to increase your metabolism is through exercise. Whenever you exercise you start burning calories quicker. Also as you build more muscle, your metabolism also increases. So exercise is essential.
Exercise Like Your Life Depends On It – Because It Does!
Finally, the exercise component. Exercise is essential, and you need to learn to exercise properly to lose weight in the most efficient way. OK, ab exercises will help you get a six pack in the long run, so do not abandon them. But while you have a layer of fat over your stomach you will never see your abs or reduce that fat by just doing ab exercises.
Several years ago someone came up with the idea of the “fat burning zone” which involves working out at a relatively easy pace for a long time. It turns out that this idea was incorrect. However, fitness machines all over the world are still plagued with this “fat burning zone” scale. You need to workout more intensively to effectively lose weight and get fit.
This does not mean that you have to try to exercise like an athlete though, as this is also not going to be possible. Just push yourself as hard as you can for 30-45 minutes every day. 45 minutes is best as 45 Minutes of Intensive Exercise Raises Metabolism for 14 Hours. In short, if you can do 45 minutes of exercise at a reasonably intensive level (more than just walking or a slow jog) then your body will continue to burn extra energy for 14 hours. This is often called the afterburn effect.
So why do we say that your life depends on it? Well, simply, it does. Excess stomach fat is a sign that visceral fat is building up around your internal organs. This fat actively harms you and leads to heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Being overweight is also fast becoming one of the leading causes of cancer. Fat reduction is not just about aesthetics, it is about your health and longevity. Learn more about the Health Benefits of Losing Weight here.
The Best Forms of Exercise to Burn Fat
So what workouts should you do? There are really no best exercises for burning fat, the key is to work as hard as you can to increase your calorie deficit so that you start breaking down fat stores. These exercises are all good options:
- Running
- Swimming
- Cycling
- Walking
- Dance workouts
- Martial arts
- Intensive Interval Training
- Compound Weight Training
- Full Body Workouts
- Plus many more!
Note that burning fat is the first step. The key to any exercise session is that you absolutely must work yourself hard. You should be sweating well and also panting during the intense intervals. If you are not, then you are simply not working yourself hard enough.
Many of the old school approaches to exercise are very effective, especially the circuit training exercises and compound weight training sessions. This is why military style boot camps and martial arts classes are so good at helping people get fit and lose weight – they use tried and tested methods that strengthen the body, improve muscular endurance and cardiovascular fitness.
However, as good as a particular method of exercise or a new diet designed to aid weight loss is, the real ingredient that is required for success is you. You need to want it, and you need to work hard to get it.
The Science of Burning Fat and Building Muscle
Effect of a 1-Week Diet and Exercise Program on Weight and Limb Girth, by Jerrold S. Petrofsky et al – The Journal of Applied Research • Vol. 4, No. 2, 2004.
This research paper confirms that daily exercise will reduce stomach fat effectively, when combined with a diet plan, and therefore eventually reveal a 6 pack.
Comparison Between an Abdominal Curl with Timed Curls on a Portable Abdominal Machine by Petrofsky et al, The Journal of Applied Research Vol. 3, No. 4, Fall 2003
This paper concluded that abdominal exercise equipment can help increase muscle gain by encouraging subjects to exercise harder – “subjects are forced to work hard with this machine as they fatigue whereas with crunches, as fatigue approaches, people work faster and at less of an angle of flexion“
Core Strength Training by Skip Allen et al, Sports Science Exchange Roundtable 47, VOLUME 13 (2002) NUMBER 1
“Keys to successful core strengthening programs include selecting sport-specific
exercises that overload both anterior and posterior muscles of the trunk and pelvis
and emphasize repeated explosive movement”.
what is interval cardio exercise?
Interval cardio exercise is another way of saying interval training. This is when instead of just performing exercise at a steady pace, such as cycling, jogging or cross training, you do short sprints throughout your workout. During these sprints your work yourself as hard as possible for a set period, generally from 30 seconds to 1 minute. Then you slow down and recover for 2-3 minutes before repeating the sprint interval.
It is up to you how you work this in terms of time. Personally I prefer 30 second sprints on a cross trainer followed by 3 minute recovery early on, and then 1 minute sprints at the end of the session before a longer recovery/cool down. The key is getting the heart rate up high several times. You cannot sustain a sprint, so have to do intervals.
Hey, I am fifteen years old. I play basketball. During the offseason I try to stay in shape and work out almost every single day. I lift alot and I am trying to get my abs to the a better state. I work them out everyother day, I can feel them, but they just aren’t showing up
Hi Danny, just keep working them. Use some resistance, hit them from different angles, and keep your diet very lean.
Okay thanks. What excises should I do since I wanna try something new.
Well, assuming you have done a whole lot of crunches, why not up your game and try front squats. Not the most comfortable exercise, but works the core and builds fat burning muscle at the same time.
I am back and better than ever. I see a lot of questions about belly fat. I have plenty. I
am 6-9 290 now. Remember this should be a lifestyle, not a 4 month I need results yesterday kind of change. While we all want results asap, rewards will follow those who put in a lot
of hard work and dedication. Those 30 year old guys at the gym that ate ripped have a set diet, an have been lifting for 15+ years everyday (different muscle groups of course).
While I haven’t seen the belly fat dwindle much, my bench press has gone from about 250 to 300 since my last post. I’ve been working out everyday and eating pretty decent. No fast food and no candy. If I do splurge at Chilis or Applebees then I do extra to compensate that. I really enjoy what I am doing and I am seeing results everywhere. Body fat can’t really be targeted. It will come off where ever it wants. It will be targeted to belly fat when that is the only thing left. But for now it’s everywhere and I can definitely see the results.
Just stay committed and once you’ve put in your time you will like the results. Remember it will take a while, a long while. Just stay safe, healthy and have fun with it. I think if you have fun with it you will be comitted to staying healthy in the long run. Any grammar mistakes I’ll blame on posting from my phone. Stay safe, healthy, and have fun!
Thanks for the update Lee. This is the right attitude. Just keep going, don’t give up. This is your new life, so love it!
Hi, I do exercise for my body to tone up, and also my belly because it is fat, however, I don’t want to loose weight on my legs because they are small already is there any exercise I can do for bigger legs and hips?
Hi Bianca, the best exercise you can do are squats. These will make your legs stronger while also helping to burn body fat (from all the body). Lunges are good too, but bodyweight squats are best. Just put your hands on your hips, feet shoulder width apart, and squat down until your thighs are almost parallel to the floor. Do as many as you can then rest, repeat.
Hi I recently had a pretty toned stomach and a pretty defined 6 pack without any knowledge of how I got it but ever since I started full time work I’ve slowly lost it and my bellys starting to get a bit bigger. I used to do martial arts for 10 years but quit about 4 months ago too. Can u give me some exercises I can do without and with equipment to acquire my 6 pack again? Thank you
Hi Jack. I suspect that you problem is more to do with diet and being less active generally than a need for some specific exercises. If you have 10 years of martial arts under your belt, then the best thing to do is get into the habit of doing some martial arts workouts that you are familiar with. Whether it be shadow boxing, forms or training drills, these will get you burning fat. Then work your core too. But most importantly, look at your diet. When people start work they often become less active and eat more junk food / snacks.
Hi, i was recently sick and i lost alot of muscle and gained some fat around my stomach and waistline, and i have small “man boobs”. how can i;
A) Regain Muscle Tone; and B) Loose the Love Handles, “Man Boobs” and stomach fat?
Regards,
Michael
Hi Michael. To regain muscle you need to do full body workouts with compound weight training. The love handles will hopefully melt away with a combination of a lean diet, increased metabolism as you build more muscle, and intensive cardio workouts. Circuit training, weight training or using a cross trainer intensively will all help. The key is to start exercising and keep working at getting stronger and fitter, while also eating a healthy diet that is low in sugar.
Heyy! I am 16 & not fat but I have this really big tummy and its so annoying and can get really embarrassing.. I don’t eat bread or rice, and I don’t drink Pepsi or Coke (some people say they cause bloating) && I stay away from junk as mush as possible. I tried a lot of workouts but now I’m just desperate for a solution because prom is in 6 weeks…. I don’t know what to do :(
I run twice a day. Each time for 15 minutes in the morning and night. I have a six pack but I’m aiming for an eight pack. The problem is I have a slight layer of fat just below my belly button and I’m having a really hard time getting rid of it. Any advice? Please
Hi Louise, this is a tricky one. You could experiment with some sprints in your running each day. Also keep a very close eye on sugar content of your diet. Compound weight training may help build more muscle to help burn fat too. Then hit those abs from all angles.
Update. 280 lbs now, but I’ve found a workout buddy and can’t wait to see what transformations happen this month. Running is getting somewhat easier but it’s still a pain in the butt to go fast. Remember get that cardio in if you want to lose the gut. And eat right of course. Good work everyone working on maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Good work Lee. Make sure your workout buddy is there for you and that you don’t just spend all your time trying to persuade them to go to the gym!
I have been traveling for eight weeks. And eating from restaurants and truck stops. I could not exercise either. Now I have a belly! I have been eating right now for 15 days. And exercising. No results. What should I do?
Christine, less food and more exercise is the only way to get back to where you were 10 weeks ago. You cannot expect to reverse 8 weeks of poor diet and inactivity in 2 weeks. Just keep working at it and stay focused.
Hey. I am 16 years old. 5′ 7″ and 147 lbs. I’m not fat but I’m not happy with my body. I play golf everyday for school. Walking 9 holes and sometimes 18. I play 18 holes every Saturday and Sunday. I am also in p.e class at school. We run and lift on an every other day schedule. I have some extra fat on my lower stomach and chest area. Is there anything I can do to get rid of that. Thanks.
Hi Austin. Sounds like you are really active at school, we never used to have PR everyday when I was a kid. With that much activity is could well be a diet issue. Maybe you are eating too much sugar? When you do PE is it intensive, i.e. do you do interval style training, work up a sweat and get very out of breath? Whatever exercise you do, it has to have an intensive element. Gold does not, although all that walking is certainly healthy. To get rid of the fat you just need to push yourself a little harder, exercise more intensively.
I’m pretty in-shape and a little over average with everything except my stomach. Like a lot of people, I can feel my abs, but I can’t see them and they’re barely defined. I want to get rid of the layer of fat hiding them, and I was wondering if this was the right strategy to do, even though I’m a very young teen. Thanks.
Really to reveal your abs you need to increase the intensity of your workouts (full body workouts, not stomach workouts) and eat a lean diet designed to reduce sugar and burn fat.
Hey. I’m an 18 year old male, 5 foot 10 in height. Over the course of the last two years, I’ve lost 60 lbs (I now weight 164). I lost all of my weight through outdoor running (building up to 3 miles 4 or 5 times a week) and eating healthy.
My question is that, now at 164, I’m afraid that I don’t have that much more weight to lose, yet my stomach still holds a great deal of flat. My waist in general has a very rounded look. It seems that my upper and lower bodies have slimmed down nicely (got rid of my fat legs and man boobs), while I kept my gut (part of it at least).
Would really appreciate your advice in this matter. A friend of mine recommended that I start weight lifting (after I told him I was planning on running more this summer). He said that running more would mess up my body at this stage as my shoulders were already beginning to look kinda weak. I have no experience lifting weight, at all.
Anyhow, sorry for such a long post.
Shawn
Hi Shawn, your friend made a good suggestion. Weight lifting is a good option. It will make you look and feel more athletic, plus the additional muscle will help burn more fat. You should also take a look at what you are eating and cut as much sugar out of your diet as possible.
Weight training is not difficult really. You could start with doing bodyweight exercises. Push ups alone will start to make your shoulders and chest look stronger and more balanced. Some options are the 20 minutes home workout, various different ways to do push ups here, the popular circuit training workouts, tips for using general items instead of weights in the backyard workout.
For weight training, start with our advice on weight training at home on a budget. We have advice for beginners here plus a simple beginners routine. You may find this helpful too, advice on how to train for different purposes, i.e. muscle strength, size or power.
Hi, I have a problem losing my belly fat. I had a baby about two years ago. I need some adivice.
Hi Andrea. Take a look at our new article on losing baby fat. You have to work hard to get your body back. Eat a healthy calorie controlled diet and do lots of quality exercise.
Hi, I’m 25 5’8 and weigh 150 lbs. I had a baby about 9 months ago, and can not get the weight around my belly to go away. It’s driving me crazy! I was a size 2 before I got pregnant, now i’m a size 9! I work out almost every other day and eat the best that I can mostly fruits, veggies, whole grains, protein…. I’m trying to lose at least 20lbs, any advice or exercise or diet you recommend? Appreciate it! Thank you.
Hi Amanda. What workouts are you doing at the moment?
I do at least 2 to 3 classes a week and I do the eliptical. The classes are mostly cardio and or body sculpting.
Body sculpting classes are good. When doing the elliptical really push yourself. Use the hill workout that will create an interval training routine. Use the highest resistance possible that allows you to maintain a comfortable speed on the high resistance hill sections. Whether you do 1 minute at very high resistance of 2 minutes at a lower resistance is up to you, but best to mix it up.
Really you need to keep a very close eye on diet. This is the key. Only eat low GI from now on, and make no excuses.
I am 20 yr old, weigh 67kg, height 5ft10. Although I am not overweight or obese I do have fat belly which I want to get rid of. I have been checking a lot of sites for this. I have a gym nearby but without any instructor I am a bit hesitant as to whether I am doing the exercise the right way or not. Please guide me as to what kind of exercises I can do at home so as to loose my belly fat and at the same time tone my body for a flexi look. I have started jogging and I swim a lot. Does swimming help as a workout to tone abs or body? I would like if you could reply in detail as to what kind of workout and for how many minutes should I do it everyday. More so if you could suggest some video tutorials for workouts?
To burn belly fat you need a lean diet with almost no sugar, very low GI, and do full body workouts. Working your whole body burns fat most effectively. Swimming can help but is not the best way to lose fat. Circuit training exercises are excellent. Jogging is good, but you need to increase the intensity – running is better. As you are not overweight really you just need to get fit. Work your whole body and work it hard.
If you really want to watch video tutorials then the Great Shape Up Program’s video workouts are really good. They provide lessons on gym workouts so that you can use weight training effectively to lose weight and shape up.
So why is everyone responding to this with questions that might as well be, “What are three stomach exercises to build a solid 6 pack?”
Do you think this doesn’t work, or are you not even dedicated enough to read the article, let alone work out? If your a person who’s overweight and expects results instantly then your out of luck. You can’t buy a six pack like you can walk into a lipho clinic and buy yourself fat loss. Muscle is the complete opposite of fat. You can carelessly gain weight but you have to work to lose it. You can carelessly lose muscle mass and strength, but you have to work to gain it.
A personal tip on weight loss:
Drink LOTS of water. It keeps your stomach feeling full so you don’t overeat. Over the course of a day doctors recommend to drink half the number of your body weight in ounces.
Ex: A 200 pound man should drink 100oz. of water. Or a 140 pound woman should drink 70oz. of water.
I recommend twice that if your taking the weight loss route. I always made a promise I would never go over 300 pounds. (I’m 6’5 and literally big boned, mind you). I don’t struggle with anything but stomach fat. My arms and legs are pretty muscular but my midsection is the problem area. Right now I’m working to lose 50 pounds and doing this alone i lose about 6 pounds a week. Thats WITH all that water weight too so technically I could stop a few pounds before 250 and lose the water weight. But I’d rather overshoot it than not make it. Good luck everyone. Trust me this works. Just don’t starve yourself, you still need nutrients to stay healthy. I recommend vitamin pills.
Hi I need some help getting rid of my manboobs and getting chest muscles, and I also need to get rid of some fat, but no matter what I do, it doesnt go away! I’m following the diet as well as I can.
Huang, what diet are you doing? What exercises?
I’m doing some intervals and plenty of ab exercises, I eat fish, grapes, oranges and lots of cold water. Is there something wrong with this diet?
That diet should cut the fat in time especially if you are exercising. Focus more on bodyweight exercises (push ups, burpees, crunches etc.) than just abdominal exercises and do some compound weight lifting exercises (bench press, shoulder press, squat, barbell curl). With the intervals aim to increase your workout duration and intensity so that you are always pushing yourself to get fitter. Work your back too to make yourself broader with bent over rows, pull ups / pull downs.
I have one more question: if I weigh 100 lbs and bike for 30 min, is that OK for my system?
So long as you get adequate nutrition and rest then there is no problem.
Hi, I weigh 230 pounds and I am starting to lose weight now again (I was 140 seven months ago.) However now I have stretch marks all over my belly. Do you think that if I start losing weight and do all the crunches and go to the gym. will I still have a ”floppy” belly? Will it reduce my stretch marks? if I exercise and diet every day how long do you think it will take for me to be at a good weight?
Hi Marissa. It is impossible to say how your body will respond to losing weight. If you adopt a controlled and healthy diet and exercise properly then you should lose a lot of weight. How long it takes is really dependent on how much effort you put in, i.e. how strict you are with your diet and how often and how intensively you exercise.
Hi I’m 13 I weigh 128 and I’m about 5’6. I have that stubborn tummy fat and I’m wondering how to get rid of it… Any suggestions on what excerises or foods I should eat? Greatly appreciated
Hi Jack, for diet you just need to focus on eating healthily, which mostly means no sugar, processed food, junk food etc. For exercise, whatever you enjoy is best. Find a sport or activity that you like and keep training at that. Martial arts are a great way to lose weight and get fit.
Ok I play soccer and I am trying to eat better and I do core excersises and I jog. Is there anything else I can do to lose the stubborn tummy fat?
One way would be to ditch the jogging and go soccer style interval training on a soccer pitch. Take a look at Football Training Drills and Soccer Workouts for some ideas.
hello, i have had a hard time this year. I’ve gained more belly fat throughout the year although i am in sports. I don’t know what happened and now i am exercising and eating vegetables and fruits and i keep gaining more and more belly fat. I don’t know what to do. All i drink is water now. I need help.
Hi Allysa. Keep an honest food diary for a week then analyse it. Unless you are eating a lot of fruit and vegetables then you should not be gaining much weight. Are you eating anything else? Bread, pasta, meat?